page_title: Audio-Animatronics
section_title: Technology
hierarchical_section_title: Audio-Animatronics / Technology
caption_attribution_description: Inside Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland.
context_page_description: Audio-Animatronics is the registered trademark for a form of robotics animation created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, but are usually fixed to whatever supports them. They can sit and stand but usually cannot walk. An Audio-Animatronic is different from an android-type robot in that it uses prerecorded movements and sounds, rather than responding to external stimuli. In 2009, Disney created an interactive version of the technology called Autonomatronics.
context_section_description: Pneumatic actuators are powerful enough to move heavier objects like simulated limbs, while   hydraulics are used more for large figures. On/off type movement would cause an arm to be lifted (for example) either up over an animatron's head or down next to its body, but with no halting or change of speed in between. To create more realistic movement in large figures, an analog system was used. This gave the figures' body parts a full range of fluid motion, rather than only two positions.
  To permit a high degree of freedom, the control cylinders resemble typical miniature pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, but mount the back of the cylinder on a ball joint and threaded rod. This ball joint permits the cylinders to float freely inside the frame, such as when the wrist joint rotates and flexes.
  Disney's technology is not infallible however; the oil-filled cylinders do occasionally drip or leak. It is sometimes necessary to do makeup touch-up work, or to strip the clothing off a figure due to leaking fluids inside. The Tiki Room remains a pneumatic theatrical set, primarily due to the leakage concerns; Disney does not want hydraulic fluids dripping down onto the audience during a show.
  Because each individual cylinder requires its own control channel, the original Audio-Animatronic figures were relatively simple in design, to reduce the number of channels required. For example, the first human designs (referred to internally by Disney as series A-1) included all four fingers of the hand as one actuator. It could wave its hand but it could not grasp or point at something. With modern digital computers controlling the device, the number of channels is virtually unlimited, allowing more complex, realistic motion. The current versions (series A-100) now have individual actuators for each finger. Disney also introduced a brand new figure that is used in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and is referred to as the A1000.
caption: The former bride auction scene in Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS REBEL T3i", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe DNG Converter 6.5 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2012:04:30 00:22:43", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image ExifOffset": "226", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "814", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "14199", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "9/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "3200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:04:22 20:24:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:04:22 20:24:52", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "4906891/1000000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "847997/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-2/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "7/4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "50", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "55", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "55", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "5184", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3456", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "678", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "b353e1c8b71cfd42280e3e72960f8fec"}